A Week Away
by Si-obi
Summary: Loki finally realises that kidnapping certain mortals isn't such a good idea.
1. Chapter 1 Day 0

**Day 0**

"Damn it."

Darcy is now used to Jane's cursing from the other side of the lab, where the scientist has her head stuck in a heavy book, a pen scribbling away. Darcy doesn't even look up, choosing to stick to her own reading- a little lighter than Jane's, but still as intriguing for the confused Poli-Sci graduate who is still trying her hardest to get up to speed with the whole 'wormhole' thing.

Thor sits on the sofa, watching TV. His new love is game shows, which he watches non-stop thanks to the recording feature on their new set. He keeps the noise to a minimum though, knowing that Jane would rip his head off like an angry Chihuahua against a Great Dane if he so much as laughed whilst she worked.

The reason for all this heavy research? Jane takes one ride on the Bifrost with Thor and decides that she wants her own. She already has the Foster Theory- science crazy enough to be in Darcy's fiction books, but she's a menace- always wanting to go further. Props to her, she figures, if she wanted something, she'd do it, no matter how impossible it may seem.

When she'd told Darcy of her plan to build Earth their very own Bifrost, Darcy had laughed in her face. She isn't unfamiliar to Jane's radical ideas, but this is a new level of aspiration for the woman. Even SHIELD had considered it, but dropped the idea when it became too complex. And politics became involved.

But still, here she is, scrawling complicated formulas into notebooks filled with ideas and diagrams, and Darcy isn't going to lie- she's pretty sure Jane is close to finishing. Well, as far as Jane has told her, anyway. Even plans with SHIELD have been made.

Darcy is glad that Thor and Jane sorted the whole New York thing out. Thor came to visit her after he dropped his supervillain brother off in Asgard, and had been living with them ever since. Darcy counted the weeks. Must have been around 2 months now that they'd been out of Pop Tarts and Lucky Charms. She half wonders if sugar even exists on Asgard, or if they even missed him there.

Jane huffs for the millionth time, and Darcy rolls her eyes and smiles, looking over to her boss with a kind of admiration. The petite scientist has her head in her hands and her eyes screwed shut.

"Is it coffee time yet?" Darcy grins. She needs the caffeine- they'd been at this all day and her eyes were gluing themselves shut every time she blinked. She doesn't know how the hell Jane is still conscious- she'd been up all last night bashing around so much that Darcy had to put her iPod on just to fall asleep.

The mention of coffee perks Jane up. She jumps out of her seat and into life, shuffling around for her purse in the mess of papers. Thor's eyes, however, stay fixed to the TV, almost at the edge of his seat with fascination.

"I'll go get some from town. I need to stretch my legs." Jane says to Darcy. "My treat."

"You're the boss." She shrugs. "Take the blonde one with you- he hasn't been outside in days."

"It's is of no fault of my own your television programmes are so captivating." Thor pipes up from the sofa.

"You've been watching reruns of Jeopardy for the past three days, Thor. C'mon. Jane's hardly a good influence on you."

Thor looks to Jane over his shoulder and laughs heartily. He gets up and does a mock bow in Darcy's direction.

"As you wish, my lady."

"Damn straight." Darcy laughs and claims the sofa, sprawling over it and sighing as she sees Jane shove the research book frantically into her bag. Jane practically sleeps with the thing. No surprise there, she thinks with a grin.

Whilst Jane packs her things up, Thor approaches Darcy at her desk.

"Will Jane be able to keep this up much longer?" Thor says cautiously, quietly.

"Not if she doesn't sleep." Darcy scratches her head, leaning back on her chair. "But she's gone without it for longer in the past, I guess."

Thor smiles sadly. "I worry about her."

At this, Darcy feels a twinge of jealousy. What did an intern have to do around here to get a demi God completely and utterly devoted to her? She stands up and claps Thor on the shoulder lightly, smiling.

"I know you do, big guy." She looks over at Jane, who taps her foot impatiently at the door. "That makes the two of us."

Thor surprises her by taking her hand and kissing it lightly. He looks over to Jane and smiles, slowly walking over to her. Before he reaches her, he nods in Darcy's direction. "You are a good friend, Darcy."

Darcy clears her throat and blushes bright red as they head out of the door, her hand tingling. She laughs to herself in the empty lab, feeling a little more tired than before, her eyes now gluing shut every time she blinks. It would make sense not to start something new with coffee on its way right? Ten minutes, she promises herself as she throws herself down on the sofa, her eyes closing, no motivation left to keep them open.

No one notices the flash of green in the desert behind the lab.

* * *

When she wakes, she realises that she's made a huge mistake in even closing her eyes to begin with.

This isn't the lab she's woken up in.

Where the fuck is she?


	2. Chapter 2 Day 1

**_DAY 1_**

* * *

She's tied to a thick pipe running up the side of the cabin wall, but not with rope or zip-ties. Around her wrists are clunky pieces of metal with a ring of glowing blue on the inside. Looks to her as if someone got their hands on some cyberpunk-type handcuffs and added some tacky glowsticks to them. Feeling a stab of fear, she rattles them against the pipe in an attempt to slip out of them, but they only grow tighter on her wrists, leaving a harsh red mark.

Before panic sets in, she has a quick look around, her deep breaths consoling her to an extent. It looks like a cute little cabin bungalow, with a pretty fireplace and quaint wooden furniture. A small kitchenette was to her left, and balcony doors led out to deck by a large body of water. It was beautiful with the sun gleaming through the windows and not unlike the ones she and her dad used to holiday in just to get away from the cities.

And it's deserted. She rattles her chains to the top to get a good look out of the window and sees nothing but trees to one side, water to the other. It looks to her like a lake, still and shimmering. She sits down again on the soft rug beneath her, disappointed. Maybe she should shout for help?

The soft padding of footsteps behind her makes her spin to face the doorway.

Oh shit.

She's seen him on TV- Thor's brother- the arrogant antler guy with aspirations to rule the world. Loki Odinson. And now he's standing in front of her in full armour, and she can't help but laugh at his helmet.

He tilts his head, almost fascinated, and crouches down next to her.

"You know who I am, you know what I have done and yet you laugh in my presence? You think me funny, Jane Foster?"

That wipes the smile off her face. He thinks she's Jane? She wonders what the hell he's after her for, and plays along, knowing damn well this psycho wouldn't think twice about burying her six foot under in the woods if he knew she was Darcy Lewis, intern-extraordinaire.

He grabs her face roughly and pulls her toward him, examining. She does the same, her gaze fixing on the pale white skin and the dark circles around his oddly bright green eyes.

"I see why my brother is so smitten. He is known to prefer beauty over brains. Though with your developing research, I profess it is possible to be both."

"You think I'm pretty?" Darcy can't meet his eyes, and doesn't want to laugh again. It's hard though, and she manages a barely supressed smile, her full lips pressed firmly together. He lets go of her with disgust.

"Wait. What am I even doing here?" She changes topic. "And you're supposed to be in Asgard."

"Those cells are not designed to hold something as strong as I. I need your research."

"What research? There's tons of it. Take it." Darcy shrugs and tries to slide out of her handcuffs to no avail.

"The research on the Bifrost you are building. I know you will have given it to the oaf, Thor, for safe-keeping."

"So your plan is to kidnap me so he gives the research to you? Wow, talk about picking on people your own size…" She scoffs.

"Your realm is primitive and base. You deserve no travel to our realms. Just because Thor happened to be cast out onto that rock does not grant you mortals permission to access such information! The superior realms must stay in the hands of those with power and knowledge."

"Excuse me, but we just got to that point! We're smart- we have enough knowledge, you think Asgard started out-"

"Silence!" He shouts and she flinches back into the stone wall. "I will not be told what you are capable of. "Asgard has saved Midgard time and time again. Once your Avengers are challenged and defeated, your realm will be naught but a barren wasteland to pave the way for superior beings. You humans are such a waste of resources."

Darcy sighs heavily. She's bored of this lecturing. She wants to snap back, but a nagging voice in the back of her head tells her that Loki would probably snap something of hers if she dared. Still, she was tempted to see how far she could go.

"But those Avenger dudes beat you. Doesn't that mean you're the same as us?"

At this, Loki throws his head back and laughs gracefully. She hates the way her gaze lingers on his pale throat, on his long fingers resting on his knees as he crouches down to her level. Sure, he is handsome as hell, but that doesn't mean his attitude is squeaky-clean. Or his criminal record, for that matter.

"You have spirit, I'll give you that." He tilts his head and smiles, and Darcy sees the mask underneath. The trickster, the playful child that drives him. It quickly turns to malice. "I will never be like you people."

"So… what now? You wait til Thor misses me and tries to find me? Then he trades the research over? I suppose my life is in danger, etcetera, etcetera."

She doesn't know why she's being so casual. An evil God is in front of her, threatening her life, and she's laughing? Must be the nerves. She tries to think what the real Jane would do in this situation. She'd probably be smart, calculating. She'd have probably made it out of these handcuffs by now. Darcy fidgets uncomfortably.

"I will contact him, and let him know my terms. Not today. I will let him worry, first. To rip apart that small island you call home, desperately looking for you."

"And if he doesn't agree…"

"I will send him parts of you until he does."

Darcy gulps, but tries to stay nonchalant. "Cool. Yeah. Sounds like a good deal."

There's a moment of silence before she speaks again.

"One thing…"

Loki, who has gotten up and across the room by now, turns and raises his eyebrows.

"What?"

"Can I try on the antlers?" She smirks to the ground, trying not to meet his eyes.

Loki looks baffled, his head tilting to one side in confusion. "No."

"Eugh." Darcy's bored already. Even in the face of impending death, she chooses sarcasm over the fear that Loki might decide to mail her fingers to New Mexico.

* * *

"Scrabble?" She suggests halfheartedly. She watches Loki, now in more casual garb, light the glowing orbs of light around the room and draw the curtains. Not before looking shiftily out of them, though.

"Monopoly then? Checkers? Um... Clue?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Entertainment. Board games. I know we have no electricity, so the internet or TV is out of the question, but c'mon, I can't sit here forever. I figure you're more of a chess-type, but god knows I don't exactly know the rules."

"Is your aim to be as annoying as possible? It will not result in you being released."

"When will you call Thor? Wait… how will you call Thor? Space-phone?"

"Stand up."

"Hell no."

Loki grabs her hair and pulls her up, forcing her wrists to catch on the handcuffs as they slide up the pipe. She leans against the wall and scowls at him as he releases her sharply, rolling his eyes and tracing a circle in the air in front of them.

His fingertips glow green, and the circle becomes a screen. She can suddenly see the lab, where Thor and Jane are tapping away on separate computers frantically. Darcy's secretly happy they've been worried, but whispers 'shit' when she notices Jane look up, toward them through the screen.

"Darcy?!" Jane gets up and rushes toward them, Thor following after, until their faces fill up the entire screen.

Loki looks back at Darcy with rage. "Darcy?"

"Holy shit- No, guys, I'm Jane, yeah?" Darcy looks at Loki's furious glare and thinks quickly. "It's a… nickname?"

"What?" Jane and Thor's panic fades to confusion as they tilt their heads, eyebrows furrowed in unison.

"Eugh. Forget it." Darcy rolls her eyes as Loki composes his rage.

"Loki?" Thor nudges past Jane and growls. "You touch a hair on Darcy Lewis' head and you answer to me. What is it you want now, brother? Another kingdom?"

"Hardly." Loki sneers happily, realising this woman would be of use after all- Thor's threats were not entirely empty. "I want your Bifrost plans, and the sceptre you keep hidden from me."

"You said you just wanted-" Darcy begins, before Loki shuts her off with a hiss of "silence!"

"You wish to procure the plans in exchange for Darcy's return? Nothing would make me happier." Behind him, Jane is glaring at Loki silently. "Though I cannot give you the sceptre, brother. It has poisoned your mind and soul too long."

"Don't give him anything, guys. He's a psyc-"

Darcy doesn't see the hand until it hits her, hard, whipping across her face with a crack. She whimpers as her arms slam against the pipe, her wrists straining against the cuffs from the sheer force of the hit. She refuses to fall, though, her legs shakily supporting her.

Loki turns back to Thor through the screen and smiles manically. "Your move, brother. I will give you a week to procure the sceptre. I need not tell you what will happen if you fail."

He snaps his fingers and the screen disappears, folding in on itself.

Darcy breathes heavily, tears streaming down her face from sheer pain. She's more angry than hurt though, and she struggles in her restraints as she tries to lunge at him.

"What the fuck was that for? Asshole!"

Loki sighs heavily. "You do not know the meaning of the word, hostage, am I correct?"

"Yeah of course I do- my mom once took me to New Jersey and this guy got me in the back of his van and he treated me real nice until my mom gave him a couple hundred bucks to give me back. Hell, I wanted to stay there."

"This is not New Jersey." He snaps. "Why did you lie about being Jane Foster?"

"I didn't want you going back for my friend. Duh."

"So you'd be loyal to the point of destruction."

"What do you need the sceptre for? You said you just wanted to stop us building the bridge!"

Loki sits himself opposite her in a cosy armchair. "Darcy Lewis." He says her name like a question, but she hates the way her name sounds on his lips, and apparently he does too, suppressing amusement. "There are worlds beyond your own, you know. And inside those worlds are creatures that will rule you, given the chance. The only way to stay in their favour is to deliver what they desire. I owe a debt."

"To who?"

"Your kind would not know such a creature." Loki tuts and crosses his legs.

"True." She shrugs. "Probably got an ominous space name or something. They always do."

Loki looks at her for a second, entirely confused by this… creature he has managed to accidentally pick up. Still, Thor and (the real) Jane seemed anxious at his choice of hostage, so he feels as if he has some leverage. He stays silent, not entirely sure he wants to talk to the strange girl who apparently yo-yos from anger to sarcasm in record time.

"I'm hungry." Darcy moans, causing Loki to ignore her completely and walk out of the room, leaving Darcy alone with her thoughts. "And my face hurts!" She shouts after him.

After another round of shouting at a wooden door, she realises that the 'annoying technique' didn't exactly work on him like it did with the guy in New Jersey. Maybe, she thinks, if she tries a more… sincere, damsel in distress-type, he'd probably feel a little bit sorry, right? He probably loves those, she thinks wryly, knowing for a fact that this man loves to be in charge.

After an awkward toilet break (Loki insisted on following her in the bathroom), she stays silent for the remainder of the night, and Loki doesn't return. Maybe tomorrow, she thinks hopelessly, trying to filter out the strange noises she can hear outside the cabin.


	3. Chapter 3 Day 2

_**DAY 2**_

* * *

Darcy's back hurts, and she's pretty sure her wrists are bleeding from the handcuffs, where she's put too much strain on them whilst she napped. She couldn't exactly sleep, but god knows she's used to that now. She groans as she tries to stretch herself out, her body aching from sleeping upright, propped up against the wall. She's sure she looks entirely helpless, which is exactly the look she is going for. She doubts Loki can feel pity, but she figures it wouldn't be bad if she gives him an ego trip and some satisfaction in being an effective kidnapper.

"Loki?" She makes her voice sound as rough as possible. Coughing for effect, she sees Loki pad out of his room. She notices his more casual garb- even out of his armour he still has that otherworldly look about him. And he looks anything but concerned.

"I am not at your beck and call, woman." He huffs.

Looks like you are. She thinks, but it takes most of her self control to keep quiet.

"I know. I was… I was just wondering…" She stuttered, making herself as timid as possible. "Have you heard from Thor and Jane?"

At this Loki smiles. "Has the mortal lost her smart attitude?"

"Uh…" Darcy doesn't meet his eyes.

"Unlikely." Loki looks down at her with distain. "You think you're clever. You forget I'm the God of Lies, of tricks and treachery. I see through your helplessness, mortal."

Darcy narrows her eyes, annoyed that she's been called out already.

"Okay then. You prefer this version of me? Seeing as you do, I'll just annoy the shit out of you. It's not like I have anything better to do."

"You have no need for a tongue when I give you back to your beloved friends. I promised your life, that is all."

Darcy cringes and rolls her tongue about in her mouth, trying not to picture Loki lopping it off.

"You're gross."

"I believe 'terrifying' is more accurate."

Darcy scoffs, and Loki walks out of the cabin entirely. She uses her remaining strength to shimmy up the pipe and watch him walk outside, his haughty, poised back to her.

"Shit." She swears, and sits back down.

Maybe this is her chance to get out. She looks frantically around the cabin, and sees that Loki has cleared a nice space around her, so she can't reach any furniture or rugs or anything that might help her in the slightest. Great.

She takes a look at the handcuffs, and notices there's no keyhole, no slot where she can jam her hairpins to try to release herself, like they do in the movies. Darcy tries rattling them against the pipe again and again, but it's pretty solid and she can't find any way of getting out of the cuffs, even after a couple of hours of trying. Her wrists are bleeding quite significantly now, and she winces at the pain. He'd thought this through nicely, she thinks bitterly.

Her stomach rumbles and she groans as a sharp pain hits her abdomen. No food, no water, no tiny chance of escape. She thanks her amazing bladder, otherwise Loki would be even more annoyed at her with the constant requests to go to the toilet.

Giving up any chance of escape by her own means, she sits back down and waits for Loki to return from his mysterious walk. She passes the time by staring out at the still lake, watching the trees around it sway slightly in the breeze until her eyes droop and she finally gives in to sleep once more.


	4. Chapter 4 Day 3

_**DAY 3**_

* * *

Mortals are fragile. His mother taught him that. Loki looks down at his hostage with almost scientific curiosity. She looks pale- well, paler than she was before. Her full lips are chapped and pale, leaving her looking washed out. Her skin is porcelain, and he can see her blue veins so easily through the paper-thin flesh under her white tshirt. Tentatively, he reaches out and runs his finger down her arm. Soft, too, but lacking the warmth he usually sees in humans.

She looks positively worn out, her head resting against the wall, her legs drawn up, making herself as small as possible as her mouth hangs open, her face slack and gormless.

Before he knows what he is doing, he grabs one of the throws from his bedroom and drapes it around her pitiful form. She wakes at this disturbance, and mutters something before nodding off again.

He frowns. He is torn between acting as the gentleman he has been raised as (before he has to threaten Thor and hurt her) and being downright unbearable. Truthfully, he forgets how mortals work biologically. They are similar, but require so much more care. The last human lover he had was centuries ago, and he shudders to remember how he laid with something so inferior to himself.

Darcy mutters in her sleep, between the odd snore. Things like, "yeah, whatever" or (his personal favourite) "get that taco away from me". She is oddly endearing, and he admires her spirit and the boldness she possesses- however, Loki has never kidnapped a more annoying subject.

He finds this out when she finally wakes at midday. She clicks her neck and stretches, almost whimpering at the lack of strength in her muscles and the constant ache in her back, her stomach now painful.

"Loki?" She doesn't have to fake her rough voice now. "Loki? I could do with some water. Some food?"

Nothing answers her, and the door to his bedroom remains shut.

"Loki. Please!" She hates begging, but the ache in her stomach is unbearable. "I swear to God I'm not just doing this to piss you off."

Still no answer.

"Fuck you, Loki! Any longer and you won't have a fucking live hostage."

At this, Loki's door slams open and he stomps over to her, throwing her some bread and bottled water that he's conjured out of thin air.

"Here." His voice is angry, but Darcy is surprised to hear uncertainty in his tone.

She tries to reach for the bread, and fails, hissing when her wrists strain against the handcuffs. Loki sighs heavily and picks up the bottled water, opening it for her. She reaches out, but he puts the bottle to her lips, crouching down next to her.

As she drinks he struggles for words, and they come out softer than he expects. "I forget the fragility of mortals. The constant need for sustenance."

She stops drinking, and he manages to pour water down her front, soaking her top. He glances down briefly, seeing the outline of her bra through her thin t-shirt. He looks away quickly and covers her with the blanket he draped round her shoulders before. She pretends not to notice the blush on his face- she doesn't need something else to worry about.

"Yeah I'm fucking fragile alright." She scowls at him. "Pass me the bread." Darcy watches the god with a confused scowl as he picks up the bread and tears it to pieces. He tilts his head. "Please." She adds.

He offers it out to her, but she shakes her head.

"Don't baby me. I'm perfectly fine to eat by myself."

Loki raises his eyebrows. "Your wrists are hurt from your fruitless attempts at escape. When it comes to sending you to my brother in small bags, I will let you ruin yourself. Ergo, I can feed you, or you can starve."

"Really?" Darcy really wants to choose the latter just to spite him, but instead she nods tiredly. She feels half her remaining pride disappear, but as soon as she tastes the first food in days, she forgets to be embarrassed at her apparent lack of pride.

She's tempted to try and bite his fingers, but realises that would just really piss him off. She is too tired to be in a fighting mood, and she takes the bread as he offers it in bitesize pieces, staring defiantly at him.


	5. Chapter 5 Day 4

DAY 4

The bread today somehow got upgraded to a burger and fries. Darcy wasn't complaining, and wolfed it down as quickly as Loki fed it to her. She wondered if he got off on this sort of thing. His face was way too turned on for her liking, as she practically devoured the last of her fries. But she was getting regular food and water, and toilet breaks now, so she wasn't exactly complaining. Hell, the guy in New Jersey was a little more accommodating than the Norse God.

"I smell gross." She wrinkles her nose and talks to herself. "I really need a shower."

Loki appears, annoyed as always, and leans against the door to his room. "Do you ever cease your complaining, mortal?"

"Have you ever taken a hostage before?" She asks, though the sarcastic comment turns into a genuine question.

"I have taken many."

Her look questions him further.

"And?"

He seems reluctant to answer. "Never a mortal one, besides the few I chose for my army in Midgard, though they had autonomy to a certain extent."

Darcy shuffles and raises her handcuffs to him, her sore, red wrists glowing under the blue light.

"Can you take these handcuffs off? It's not as if I have any place to run. C'mon."

He doesn't answer.

"C'mon, Loki. Don't be a dick. I'm a puny human, remember?"

More silence.

"Listen, these are probably as uncomfortable as those skin-tight leather pants you're wearing."

She continues her insults, but gets no rise out of him. He stays staring into the distance, clearly ignoring her. She starts humming 'It's a small world' loudly and oddly cheerfully. All this earns her is Loki's silence.

"Pleaaaasee?" She drags the word out in the most annoying way she knows is possible, and it has the right effect. Loki jumps up and scowls at her, furious.

"If I let you out of those restraints, will you shut up!?"

Darcy smiles angelically. "Sure."

"You must know that any attempt to kill me or escape in any way will speed up our negotiation with my brother, resulting in missing digits, correct?" He wiggles his fingers in her direction.

"Mhmm."

Loki waves his hand and she feels a release in her hands. She lets out an inappropriate, loud moan as she moves her wrists back and forth, feeling them click.

"What are you doing?" She exclaims as he grasps her wrists. His face is too close to hers- she can see his long lashes framing his oddly bright eyes, the small scar above his eyebrow. His long fingers fit loosely around her small wrists, and she feels an odd heat seeping into her skin. He doesn't answer and when he pulls away to stand, her wrists are partially healed, though still scarred from her constant struggling.

"…Thanks." She rubs at her wrists in vain, trying to erase the scars. "What day is it?"

"Day four of seven."

"What happens at seven?" She tries to stand, but her legs give way, and she stumbles. She shuts her eyes tight, preparing for the impact of the floor, but opens her eyes inches away from Loki, whose arms have found her waist, long fingers splayed out across her skin. He's more muscular than she had originally thought- her outstretched hands waiting to break her fall have managed to find their way to his chest.

They hesitate a second, before Loki splutters and pushes her away. He pulls on his sleeves and coughs, regaining his composure. "We will find out if Thor has honoured our agreement."

"You think Earth will ever get a Bifrost?" Darcy enjoys her newfound freedom, towel drying her hair as she sits on the edge of the deck. Her toes just reach the water and she swings her legs idly. Her question is directed at Loki, who she hears creep up behind her, his footsteps light on the decking.

"Not if I can help it." Loki sits beside her, legs crossed.

"Right." Darcy rolls her eyes and abandons the towel around her shoulders. "You know, you don't have to pretend to hate us."

"You think I'm pretending?"

"Yeah." Darcy shrugs, still looking out at the lake. "You can be inconsistent. Change your mind."

"And what if I hate Midgardians in both the past and present?"

"Racist." She jokes, her heart really not into the argument this would likely spiral into. Strangely, she hears Loki laugh quietly.

"That's unlikely. Thor never told you my heritage, no?"

"No." She says this cautiously, unsure of where he was going with this.

"I'd like to think this all began due to my newfound knowledge of my heritage. I discovered Odin- the man I once called 'father'- took me for political advantage during the war against Jotunheim. After all, a Frost Giant prince in the royal court of Asgard would make for a convincing pawn on the table."

"You don't look like a Frost Giant." She remembers Thor educating Jane and herself about the different realms, and the types of creatures that lived in each one. No wonder she remembers Frost Giants- Thor had covered their existence in length, and now she knew why.

Loki grins. "I am told I have the height of one. When I come into contact with one, I resemble my true form rather convincingly."

"So what's this?" She asks, gesturing him up and down. "Asgardian?"

"I have no Asgardian blood. This is camouflage. From the moment my father took me as an infant, I adopted my captor's image. It's survival."

"So you're all blue under there?"

Loki sighs. "Someone has been teaching you Jotunheim's history."

"And Asgardian. And um, Vanaheim, Svaltalfheim, and some others I forgot." Darcy is surprised how much she recalls. "Thor taught me. I studied political science before all this happened. I wanted to know how they all worked, you know, governmentally, or whatever."

Loki immediately delves into a rich history of the realms for Darcy, and by the time he's finished, she's enthralled. He was a hell of a storyteller, and intelligent, too, giving his own commentary on the improvement of certain realm's ruling. She doesn't remember much of it, but does remember coming to the realisation that Loki wasn't a typical monster. She saw a man underneath it all, and as he spoke, she saw the walls he'd delicately constructed around his true self falter and crack a little.

That's when she knew she was in trouble.

Loki sits on his bed facing the window, looking out into the dense woodland as the sun sets. He is sick of this constant state of war, but the truth is that Thor and his friends were no match to Thanos and his minions, and he is likely to be killed without the sceptre. Not that the Avengers would fight for his life, but the idea is a warm alternative to him a) committing fratricide and handing over the sceptre to an enemy or b) being brutally murdered and tortured by Thanos. It would work itself out one way or another, he thought cynically. Though the universe and fate had a way of conspiring against him.

He had also become accustomed to the presence of Darcy Lewis, whom he let out of her restraints the a few hours before. She had been no trouble, surprisingly, and he had heard many tales of her life in Midgard, and swapped a few stories of his own. She was charming, and it was no trick. She seemed to forget who she was talking with most of the time, dropping into the familiar tone of a friend, even. He thinks he should maybe reward her good behaviour with a board game she wishes to play, but stops when he realises that she is his hostage, and she has no choice but to play nice.

He sighs heavily. One week was a lot of time for his oaf brother to procure the sceptre, and it showed. Four days have passed and he doubts they are searching for the sceptre- they were most likely searching for him. But he is hidden, he thinks, rather nicely. His tastes are more than this dingy log cabin, and he wagers they are looking in every five-star hotel and million-dollar apartment.

He is shaken out of his musings by Darcy bursting through the door and throwing herself on his bed. "Loki?!" She hides behind him, completely unaware of the fact he has no shirt on. She realises this and leaps off him, horrified.

"What is it?" His voice suggests annoyance, and Darcy braces herself.

"Uh. Am I being paranoid-"

"Most likely."

"-Or do I hear people outside?"

Loki frowns. A trick to get him to let her free or a genuine concern? He surveys her uncharacteristically nervous face, seeing genuine truth in her eyes.

"What did you hear?" He grabs a shirt and pulls it on, as Darcy tries to hide behind him.

"I dunno. It was like, talking, but not English. Where are we? Are we still in America? On Earth, Midgard, whatever?"

He jumps up and pushes her gently to the side, listening hard, his dagger close at hand.

"Stay here. If this is a trick, you will be punished."

Darcy rolls her eyes. She figures this would probably be the best time to escape, but from what she heard outside, she'd take Loki over that mysterious woodland any day. Despite his warnings, she follows him to the door, where he places a tentative hand on the handle and pulls it open abruptly.

She doesn't know where to look. The woods are dark, seemingly empty as she peers over Loki's shoulder. As he turns to tell her to get back, it charges.

She can't tell what it is. Part human, with a deformed face and grey scaly skin under leather and steel armour, it knocks Loki back into the cabin with an inhuman roar. She shrieks as another enters, holding what looks like a mace. She backs into the wall, watching Loki struggle to get the thing off him. What would Jane do, what would Jane do, she thinks to herself, panicking as the other thing advanced on her.

She picks up one of the wooden chairs nearby and manages to smash the thing on top of Loki with it. Rewarded by the sheer look of surprise on Loki's face, she hears it cry out as Loki's daggers pierce its skin. Its cry matches her scream of surprise when the other takes her by the hair, pulling her back.

She feels a blinding pain as he hits her face, knocking her to the ground. It takes another step forward, and she raises her arm to protect herself, the mace barely brushing her, but taking a chunk of skin with it. She whimpers and clutches at her forearm. Think, Darcy, think.

Through her tears of pain, and what she's pretty sure is gushing blood, she sees it raise the mace again. She closes her eyes, waiting for the blow, but it never comes. Instead, she opens her eyes to see Loki push the thing against the wall, his dagger at his grey, scaly throat. The thing's breath hitches, it's reptile eyes wide, flicking between Darcy and Loki.

"Darcy?" Loki asks, his eyes still on the thing in his grasp. "Are you okay?"

Darcy runs a shaking hand through her hair and cradles her bleeding arm. "Mmhm." She manages. Her eyes grow wide as she makes a realisation. "Is he… is he with Thor?"

Loki pushes the dagger further up to the thing's throat. He knows who this thing is with, but humours her, regardless. "Let's ask it, shall we?"

The creature remains silent until Loki nicks his throat slightly. "I will not kill you." He threatens, a fierce look on his face that even Darcy admits she's scared of. "Not until I make you wish you were dead. Hurting you in every way I know you fear, slowly, painfully. And then…"

"T-t-thanos." The thing manages, gasping for breath. His English is broken, raspy and unclear. "Come…to… collect… bounty."

"How did you know we were here?" Loki yells furiously, making Darcy jump.

"Following… you."

"Are there others?"

"…No."

"Tell the truth!" He yells.

"No more! Thanos… busy with other matters. He knows your attempt to… salvage what is owed."

"Good." With that, Loki swipes across the thing's throat in one fluid motion. Green blood oozed from the Thing's throat, and Loki stepped back, his nose wrinkling in disgust as it dropped to the floor. Darcy steps into hysterical mode, her panic just setting in.

"What were those things?!"

"You're bleeding." Calmly, Loki goes to kneel and examine her arm, but she bats him away.

"What were they?!"

Loki sighs and grabs the hand batting his away, holding it in his.

"You have no idea. It is better that way."

Darcy takes a deep shaking breath, her way of making the panic subside. She needs to be rational. Just like Jane, she thinks, just like Jane.

"Tell me."

"Let me fix your arm." He offers a hand to pull her up off the floor. She takes it.

"If you tell me what is going on-"

"Agreed."

Darcy perches on the end of the bed whilst Loki cleans and covers the wound on her arm. He winds the bandage around her arm in silence.

"Are you gonna tell me what those things were or are you gonna keep avoiding the question?"

"I wasn't avoiding it." He lies. "They are Thanos' minions. What we call the ont. I… wasn't lying when I claimed I had formidable enemies. Though this was a threat, not an assassination attempt. There was no way the ont would manage to capture me. Not alive, anyway." His laugh is hollow as he ties the bandage. His hands are much softer than she had imagined, his movements fluid and delicate, unlike his brother, who is forever unintentionally smashing and breaking things smaller than himself. Darcy frowns.

"Thanos? Is that the guy you owe something to?"

"Yes. And now I owe you." He laughs, this time not so hollowly. "It hurts my pride to say that I was overpowered by such a creature, but you saved my life, and for that I am grateful. But this does not mean I can let you go."

"I…" Darcy doesn't know what to say. "Tell me about him. Thanos."

Loki stays silent, and Darcy pouts.

"Please."

Loki huffs in resignation. Darcy notes that he takes no time to crack at all. She wonders whether he wanted to tell her this all along- he may have just needed a push. Loki looks down.

"He gave me the sceptre. I did not realise it at the time, but it manipulated me. It brought out all the negative feelings, the feelings of hatred, of greed. And with that, I sought to subjugate you, to lead his armies into your realm, to destroy my brother. Thanos wishes for the sceptre to be returned, though it was taken from me and hidden."

"Hence why you needed Thor to get you it, so you could square a deal with Fanot-"

"-Thanos."

"Yeah, Thanos. How did you even meet him? I thought you were smart enough to stay away from evil dudes like him. What happened?"

At this Loki pauses to tie the dressing on her arm, his hands still on her skin as if he was trying to comfort himself, or her. He notes her slight compliment with a grin.

"I threw myself off the Bifrost Bridge after a rash act of childishness, of stupidity. My father had no kind words for me, my brother professed to love me, yet acted like I was subservient, a fool to be commanded.

" I had let myself succumb to jealousy, to hatred of what I am, where I was from. So I let myself fall into the abyss, wishing to be torn into pieces across the realms, but arrived at Thanos' feet. He… tortured me for days when he knew how much power I held. I eventually complied with his plan. And now he wants the sceptre back, and there is nowhere I can hide, there is nothing I can do but surrender. And I won't surrender. I won't go back there.

"If the sceptre is returned to him, he will find a way for his armies to reach Midgard again, and the Avengers won't be able to stop them with him at the helm. I am stuck, Darcy. Between doing what is right and doing what saves me. I am choosing the latter. I always have."

Darcy blinks. She feels like a psychiatrist for one of the most complicated people in the galaxy. What is she meant to say to that?

"Um. There's choosing the right thing and saving yourself, you know. If you go to your brother, explain everything-"

Loki jerks away from her. "Your view is a fairytale. My brother will not help me. His people will lock me away, like my father did. To rot until Thanos finds me."

"Loki." Darcy sighs. "If you always think that pessimistically, you're going to be screwed. Besides, I have a degree in Politics. Sort of. I can be your spokesperson, I know how these things work."

"Do you wish to defend me?" Loki looks incredulously at her.

"Maybe. I know I'm biased, wanting to get back home and all, but maybe if you asked your brother to help you, he would. There is one way to find out, you know."

"And risk incarceration if he fails to deliver this protection?"

"I don't know. I guess that's up to you."

Loki bites his lip, and Darcy has to admit his thinking face is kinda hot. Not that she'd admit that out loud, of course.

He gets up from the bed and drags her along gently. She notes her trembling fingers still in his, and gulps. Man, was she screwed, she realises with a pang. Loki looks at her, confused, as she pulls her hand out of his but rolls his eyes, offering his hand once more.

"Come. We have bodies to discard of."


	6. Chapter 6 Day 5

DAY 5

Darcy's muscles hurt. She wakes up on the sofa, her neck at a funny angle and her muscles aching from dragging dead bodies into the woods last night. She groans, hearing her muscles crack as she stands up. Loki's door is wide open- he's probably gone for his mysterious morning walks, she thinks. He'd fixed the furniture and tidied up, at least.

The sunlight hurts her eyes and she looks down at herself, disgusted.

She's worn clothes maybe two days in a row, but five days is pushing it for her personal hygiene. Now she gets showers, but still has to wear the dirty clothes she had bled over and sweat through, whilst Loki comes out wearing crisp, fresh clothes that even smell pretty good for a dude.

Darcy considers asking him, but decides it's high time she did something by herself. After a quick shower, she barges into Loki's empty room, picking the lock with her hairclip (as soon as it clicked open she jumped up in celebration).

She strikes gold in the wooden drawers beside his bed. Some weird collection of different coloured v neck tunics, along with trousers made of both woven cloth and leather. She takes one of each and tries them on curiously, leaving the stuff that looked like a cape alone. She half wonders where his proper armour is. He'd kill her for this later, but she is literally drooling over fresh clothes, and she doubts he'd let her drop into a mall to go shopping anytime soon.

It takes her two tries to get into the trousers. He is pretty skinny and terribly tall, she guesses, but they're oddly stretchy, and the green tunic fits perfectly, only a little tight around the chest. She's used to it, though—all the clothes she buys are not exactly accommodating. She quickly redoes the dressing on her arm with the bandage she finds in the First Aid kit, cringing when she sees the scar underneath.

Overall, she's pretty pleased with herself, and sits herself down on the armchair, digging out the trashy porn novel she'd found in the living room cabinet. It was an interesting read the second time round, but she didn't know whether it was because she had nothing better to do or because it was legitimately interesting. She swings her legs over the side of the armchair, making herself comfortable, wondering who even owns this cabin.

She is just reaching the part in her book where the handsome millionaire declares his love for the Mary-Sue main character when Loki slams the door open. His gaze flicks to her, then away as he enters.

"Are those my-"

"Yup."

"Did you get them from-"

"Yeah."

She waits for the anger, but is surprised when she hears no protest. No way would Loki turn down a chance to yell at her for something. Maybe he'd gotten past the 'give a shit' phase entirely.

Darcy's eyes light up when she sees the brown bag in his grasp.

"Is that breakfast?" She says excitedly.

"Breakfast." He confirms and throws it toward her. "Greasy Midgardian food."

"Mm." Darcy bites into the bacon sandwich he's got her and moans in appreciation. "Thanks."

"What's that?" He gestures to the book in her lap.

"Uh, just a stupid novel I found. It's really bad." She says, her mouth full of food.

He looks disgusted with her manners and reaches out and plucks the book from her.

"Hey!"

"'… his hands clasp my hips. He sets a punishing rhythm - in, out, and he reaches around-'"

She blushes as he looks at the book with confusion, then to her as if she'd written a smutty novel. The words did sound a lot better with his eloquent tone, and even in his confusion, she must admit, his voice was a little bit hot.

"You ever thought of doing audiobooks?" Darcy takes another bite of her sandwich. "I reckon you'd sell a few."

Loki throws the book down as if it has stung him, and rolls his eyes. "Not the profession I had in mind."

"Hey! You lost my place!" She swings her legs from the armrest and grabs the book from the coffee table. "What is your profession anyway? Evil mastermind?"

"Very funny."

"But what-"

Darcy's question is interrupted by a shrill ring. She looks around, confused as the sounds seem to have no traceable location. Space phone?

Loki looks exasperated as he traces a circle in the air in front of them both. "Thor's magic is ridiculous. He can't even summon a communication device. I have to complete it."

"My magic is perfectly fine, Loki." Thor growls from the screen.

Darcy is happy to see both Jane and Thor on the screen, even if they do look pretty tired and stressed out. She feels kinda guilty about sitting here, sleeping and reading trashy porn novels when they're obviously out looking for her, but then realises the outcome for her if they don't get the sceptre in time. She tries to stay out of shot, letting Loki talk, but realises she's not exactly sure what they can see. Loki paces in front of the screen impatiently.

"Have you called me to tell me good news, brother?"

Thor grimaces at this. "Where is Darcy?"

Oh, so she is out of shot. She is about to move closer when Loki reaches out and tilts the screen toward her.

She gives a feeble wave.

"Is she- is she wearing your clothes?" Thor asks, incredulously.

"She stole them from my room."

Loki doesn't sound annoyed, but rather amused at this fact, and she makes a mental note to ask him why she hasn't been berated for that yet. Darcy scoffs.

"I did not steal. I borrowed."

"Just like you didn't steal my food the other night?" Loki scowls at her. It is true- she may have taken a few of his fries, but she did just bury a body in the woods. Hungry work.

"That wasn't even-"

"-Oh, because you were hungry? You Midgardians are eating machines-"

"Are you calling me fat? Because-"

"Uh, guys?" Jane interrupts.

"What?" Loki and Darcy say in unison.

"Are we interrupting an argument or do you want to hear what we have?"

Loki's eyes light up, and he takes a seat next to Darcy. "You have the sceptre?"

Thor looks uneasy. "No. But we know where it is. Can we exchange the location for Darcy's life? It seems a fair swap, brother. We have tried everything."

"Short of going in there and stealing it, you mean." Loki snaps back. A blade materialises in his hand, and he pushes it to Darcy's throat. She gasps at the cold metal, but more at the surprise that Loki was still following through on his threats. She accepts the fact that Loki wouldn't change his plan, but still wishes that all those cosy talks and saving lives, etcetera, had changed his outlook a little. Loki pushes a little too hard, and blood beads on her throat. Darcy holds her breath in horror.

Thor looks distressed at Darcy's shock, his tone more urgent.

"We have tried that. I have been held in SHIELD's interrogation rooms for the last two days. They wanted to know why I was in a restricted area. I had to-"

"If you, the mighty Thor, cannot reach it, it is beyond my abilities entirely. You have two days left."

"Loki, we cannot-"

Loki snaps shut the oval- it folds into itself until it has disappeared entirely. Darcy's hand goes to her throat, where a tiny cut has been made.

"That wasn't fair- they know where it is!"

"That does not help me, Darcy." Loki says angrily and marching off.

* * *

Back in New Mexico, Jane and Thor look back through the video they have recorded of their chat with Loki.

"It looks like… wooden walls?"

"A cabin? Like a log cabin?"

"That could be anywhere in Midgard, Jane."

Jane huffs and collapses in a heap on the sofa. Her voice is muffled from the pillows.

"We can't figure out anything. We've been looking for days. I'm exhausted."

"It was strange though." Thor runs a hand through knotted hair as Jane looks up.

"What was?"

"My brother."

"How? He's insane. That's strange enough."

Thor sits next to Jane and puts a comforting hand on hers. "I think we need not worry about Darcy's wellbeing at the current moment-"

Jane sits up and looks at Thor angrily. "-How can you say that, so she's not-"

"-No. I would never dream of it. Though… It seems as though she is not being mistreated. She is no longer being bullied by Loki, or so it seems- the argument they were having-"

"-It was light-hearted, sorta jokey, right? I wondered about that. And the clothes thing."

Thor smiles widely. "I believe Darcy is playing a better game at the moment. She is ensuring her release more soundly than our work."

* * *

"You got Battleships?" Darcy's face lights up like it's Christmas.

Loki throws the box at her feet. "You are being downright insufferable, so I thought a distraction from the tedium may help."

"You're right about the tedium." She sits cross-legged on the rug and pats the space opposite her. "C'mon, I'll teach you how to play. It's 2 player."

"I know how to play."

"Huh? How?"

"I read the instructions, idiot." He picks up the instructions pamphlet and gives her a gentle tap on the head with it.

"Look at you, learning Midgardian culture. If we had the internet, or even a computer-"

"-No."

"Fine." Darcy shrugs and sets up her ships on the board.

They play the first game in silence, but halfway through the second, Darcy plucks up the courage to ask a question she's been bottling up for a while now.

"Loki?"

"Mm. E3."

"Hit. C2? Um, if Jane and Thor don't get the sceptre, will you ask for Thor's protection like we said, or… you know, carry out the… deal?"

"Miss. E4."

"Hit. B1." He doesn't answer. "Loki?"

"Miss… I don't know, Darcy. Leaving without the sceptre after killing you would be very unsatisfactory, but I cannot break the terms I agreed on. E5."

"You've sunk it." Darcy mulls over his answer. "How?"

"What do you mean, 'how'?"

"I mean, how would you, you know, kill me?"

"You're a morbid little thing." Loki fidgets uncomfortably. "Perhaps, for the life you saved, a life is owed."

"You did say I saved your life." Darcy milks this fact and looks down at her board, feeling his gaze on her.

"You helped save my life. Not the same thing, but still, I may owe you. My mother would honour something to that nature."

"What is she like, your mom?" Darcy asks, Battleships long forgotten.

"She's loving, kind- a woman I can trust entirely." Loki's words seem like a speech rehearsed.

"That's strong, coming from you."

Loki sighs. "She trusts me. She taught me everything I know, and tries to steer me in the path of goodness. If she were on the bridge that day, I would not have jumped."

"She sounds awesome." Darcy fiddles with a toy ship, wanting to crush it in her hand.

"She is." Loki sounds sure of this fact. "What is your mother like? She must've been quite the woman to raise a tenacious woman like yourself."

"Tenacious. I like it." Darcy laughed. "No, my mom was pretty much absent for most of my life- minus the whole kidnapping incident in New Jersey. That was our one and only day out in years. My dad raised me. He passed away a year before you and Thor turned up and trashed Puerto."

"Sorry to hear that."

Darcy shrugs. "He was a good guy. With no family left, and only Jane and Thor to give a damn about me, I don't think your plan to mail my dead body would affect many people."

Loki looks taken aback by this. "Your life's worth isn't lessened by the number of family members you have left."

"I know." Darcy grins. "You do come out with some interesting stuff when you're not being a dick to humanity."

"Being alive for a few hundred years will give you a simpler look on life."

"You mean value of life." Darcy raises her eyebrows.

Loki shrugs. "Some individuals are worth more than others."

"What?"

"You have it here, no? A ruler, a human who stands at the top of the hierarchy, shouting down orders to his subordinates? Ensuring his rules are followed? His life is worth the most, correct?"

"Um, no. One, he's a president. Elected by the people, for the people. He can't do a damn thing until a majority agrees." Darcy abandons the game completely and slams down the lid on her side. "Two, how can you even say that lives are worth more? A life is a life."

"And that is why I kidnapped you." Loki slams his side down, too. "Jane Foster and my brother would never fight this valiantly for a complete stranger. To them, your life is worth more. More than mine, more than some strange mortal's!"

"Don't kid yourself. You weren't even meant to kidnap me!"

"I wish I hadn't!" He yells in the heat of the argument without thinking, then stops himself. Even Darcy doesn't have an immediate response until she finally breaks the silence.

"You could always…"

"Oh stop it." Loki says, resigned. "You know why I cannot release you. You know why I cannot run to my brother for help."

"I know." She sounds about as resigned as he does. "I don't even want them to give you the sceptre. It means everyone will die, regardless. I'd die for that." She sighs as she sees him rise and slam shut his bedroom door.

Darcy drags herself off of the rug and sets up the sofa, where she has comfortably slept since Loki let her out of her restraints. She decides to sleep in Loki's clothes- it would be a joy to wake up feeling refreshed and actually clean-ish for once. As soon as her head hits the scratchy pillow, she's fast asleep.

* * *

That night, Loki lies awake, trying to force himself to imagine the knife at Darcy's throat piercing her porcelain skin, cutting deeper until her gurgles are silenced. He pictures it over and over, trying to get some sort of satisfaction from the imagined images. But instead, he opens his eyes each time feeling repulsed and horrified.

As he closes his eyes for the last time to sleep, he realises that there's no way he could harm Darcy Lewis. He really wishes he had just kept her tied to the pipe and silenced- she'd used her words to sway him, to council him in a way his mother could never achieve. He realises that he hates her- but not enough to kill her. Did he even hate her at this point, he wonders?


	7. Chapter 7 Day 6

DAY SIX

Loki is woken by muffled screams. He bolts out of bed, his blade in hand and rushes into the living area. More ont fill his expectations of what he will find, and he braces himself for an onslaught of attacks.

Surprisingly, it is empty. Apart from a tossing and turning Darcy Lewis on the sofa, her face screwed up in pain. Her arms are pinned to her sides, shaking, and her breathing is quick, laboured. He wonders whether to wake her, but decides against it, kneeling by the sofa and lowering his blade.

Instead, he takes one of her shaking hands and his other goes to her hair, softly smoothing it down. Within seconds, she stills, her breathing slowing, her face relaxing. It was what his mother had done for him when he had terrifying visions and dreams that left him yelling out for her. He wonders what she dreamt of.

"Were you dreaming of me, Darcy Lewis?" He asks her sleeping form idly, not expecting a reply.

"Thanos." She mutters, half awake, to his surprise. "Those creepy ont guys."

"Anything else?" He asks, half believing she would speak his name. His hand was still in hers, his fingers frozen in her thick hair. He tries to compose himself.

"Do you ever wear a shirt?" She mutters, her eyes half open. "It's distracting."

Loki surprises her by laughing out loud, but his laugh is cut short by another one of her ramblings.

"It's day six, isn't it?" Her eyes flick open, her gaze going straight to the dim light of sunrise through the curtains. "I don't think my life is worth too much."

"You never know." Loki caresses her hair. Was she still dreaming or was Loki being unusually tender? "Thanos may find us yet."

"Great. So either way I die. Go figure." She reaches up to take his hand from her hair and sits up, slipping out of his grasp.

She tries to keep her glance on his face- she wasn't lying when she said his bare chest was distracting. Mind you, she realises, even his bedhead hair and sleepy eyes are kinda distracting, too. Is she seriously developing some intense Stockholm Syndrome?

He seems to sense Darcy checking him out, and jumps away from disappears into his room and returns fully clothed with a strange, determined look on his face. His fists are clenched and he stares at her icily.

"What's on the agenda today, then?" She asks as he stands in front of her. "It's my last day, so I was thinking maybe you could get something nice to eat. Like, Chinese takeaway and a movie or something. I could murder some sweet and sour, pardon the pun-"

Darcy turns to look at him, detecting something severely wrong in his silence. The atmosphere doesn't feel joking and light anymore- it is cold, unnerving. She notices his unsettling stare, the look behind his eyes as if he was figuring something out, fighting something. Her breath catches.

"Loki? What's up with you?"

Unprovoked, Loki takes one disgusted look at her before dragging her to the corner of the room roughly. What the fuck? She thinks as he binds her hands with the same handcuffs she had worn six days ago to the pipe. His chest is heaving as he looks at her with fury, and stalks off into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"What did I do?!" Darcy yells after him, her wrists already burning from the pain of the cuffs.

* * *

So much for Chinese food, she thinks idly as her stomach rumbles. What the hell kind of behaviour was he exhibiting? Nice to her one minute, and downright awful to her the next? Maybe this was his tactic, she thinks with a pang. She realises she had a tiny ounce of hope that Loki wouldn't kill her that very morning, but that hope had been wiped out completely.

The hope that Loki would come out and laugh, saying it was all a joke.

But instead, she stares a hole in his bedroom door, daring him to come out and talk to her.

It's close to midday when the door opens with a bang.

She's about to start with a rude quip, or some sort of 'what-the-fuck-Loki' rant, but the words die on her tongue as she sees what's in his hand.

"Loki…" She tries to reason, seeing the blade in his hand as he makes a beeline toward her. She wouldn't be so nervous, but recognises the look of determination and fury on his face from the ont attack. Her heart wants to escape her chest, hammering against her ribs painfully as she takes sharp, deep breaths.

Loki lifts her effortlessly, knife in hand, determination still on his face as he meets her eyes. Her eyes are pleading- his are murderous. He lifts the blade to her throat and positions it carefully under her jaw, his body pushing her to the wall of the cabin. She struggles, looking for anything to throw at him, to stop him, but her hands are bound, pulled painfully at an angle.

"Please…" She manages that word, scared that she'd be sick if she said anymore.

Loki looks at her, his chest heaving like before, his breath on her face, uncomfortably close. His other hand holds her face, and without the blade, it would look like some sort of passionate scene. But it is anything but. The warmth of Loki's body against hers is not welcome, but stifling. His hand on her face is not romantic, but controlling as he makes her look at him. The knife to her throat is cold, nicking her skin painfully.

They stay there a minute, Darcy not breaking eye contact with him the entire time, scared that any movement would prompt him to pull the blade across her throat and end her life.

Suddenly, something passes over his face, turning murderous rage to shock, determination to uncertainty. He lets go of her and drops his blade, throwing it across the cabin as he breaks into a dark laugh.

"I knew it." He steps back and lets her out of her restraints. Darcy can't move- her body is frozen in exactly the same position as before, her heartbeat still a steady thrumming. She can't find the words to reply, her mouth dry and gaping open as she looks her captor up and down.

"I knew I couldn't do it." He stops laughing. "I'm weak. Sentimental-"

Loki's pity party is stopped by Darcy throwing herself at him, rugby-tackling him to the ground. She straddles him and throws one of the angriest punches she's ever thrown in her life.

"Asshole!" Loki being Loki, doesn't even feel her punches, and rolls her over with ease and pins her down.

"Go." He says as she struggles underneath him.

"What?" She stops struggling and finally finds her words. What she really wants to do it to pummel the shit out of the joker pinning her down.

"There's no way I can kill you, Darcy Lewis." He scoffs at himself. "Ergo there is no point in you staying here."

"But… you still need the sceptre. Thanos will kill you." She doesn't know why she's trying to talk him out of killing her, but she does it regardless. It earns her a long frown from Loki, who is still an uncomfortable weight on top of her.

"I can hide from him."

"Why the fuck did you even make me think that you were going to kill me?!" She yells at him. He flinches back, and Darcy uses this opportunity to roll back on top of him, hitting him repeatedly. "You know how scared I was?"

She realises her punches are half-hearted and stops, looking down at a spotless Loki below her. Not even a scratch, she notes resentfully.

"It was a test." Loki admits stoically. "I have imagined killing you, Darcy, and even my mind has rebelled. I needed to see whether my body would, too."

"I was a test?" Darcy says as she rolls off Loki onto the floor. "That's cold."

Loki is silent, until she hears him sigh, still laid on the floor exactly where she left him.

"I'm sorry."

"I suppose you're expecting thanks for not killing me?"

"I wouldn't dream of it. You have nothing to be thankful for. I took you from your place by Jane Foster, and now I am letting you go. So go."

"Why didn't you kill me?" Darcy asks curiously. "What makes me so different from anyone else you've killed?"

At her question, Loki rises from the floor and looks at her hard.

"You are a strange Midgardian. You are rude, obnoxious. But at the same time you are quirky, cheerful, open, talkative. Even to someone like me. And your charm has protected you. I have told you things I would have never told anyone else. I have befriended you without my knowledge. I have never thought this hard about someone's death by my own hand."

"You're saying you can't kill me because you're my friend?"

"Do not mock me."

Darcy puts her hands up. "I'm mocking no one. It's just…me and you… friends? Really?"

Loki throws her a look that shuts her up. "Leave."

Darcy grins despite the disgust on Loki's face, and makes a decision she knows she'll regret years from now.

"No." She says resolutely. "You owe me Chinese takeaway and a movie."

"I threaten you with death, rupture my resolve and yet you still wish to stay?"

Darcy raises her eyebrows. "I am a stupid Midgardian, after all."

His look of shock turns to a sly grin as he offers her a hand to shake.

"Deal."

She takes it gladly and smiles.

* * *

She doesn't know how they've ended up on the sofa together, watching a projection of Pirates of the Caribbean, Chinese takeaway to hand.

Darcy would have never guessed that hostage day six would end like this, but hopes to god that tomorrow Loki wouldn't try some bat shit attempt to kill her again. She lets her mind wander, shoving Chow Mein in her mouth without abandon, completely oblivious of the look Loki gives her.

He's shocked she's stayed. He expects her to walk out any second, but she remains glued to the projector he's brought in, shovelling food in her mouth. He wants to laugh. Despite the threat of Thanos and his impending death, he has never felt happier. It was amazing what could change in six days, and for once, he's not regretting any of his actions.


	8. Chapter 8 Day 7

Day 7

Darcy wakes up, so snuggled in blankets that her body doesn't want to move. She realises her head is on Loki's lap as she looks up. Like any woman waking up in the lap of an attractive guy, she's pissed to see he looks regal and composed even when sleeping. She gets up, shrugging off his arm on her shoulder, and making her way to the bathroom.

As she looks at herself in the mirror, she notices the small cut under her jaw. Was that only yesterday? She sighs heavily, torn between the 'I can't kill you' Loki or the 'handcuff you to a pipe' Loki. She wonders what it'll be today. Consistency was the thing she most missed out of this cabin. Loki was as changeable as the weather, and last night was definitely a thunderstorm followed by a lot of sunshine.

Taking a deep breath, she steps out of the bathroom and prepares for the worst.

Instead, she is greeted with the image of Loki in the small living room, in front of him, two steaming hot coffees.

"How do you even do that?" She grins, forgetting about her fear, and practically bounding over to him.

"Good morning to you, too." His smile is different, she notices. It's the type that reaches his eyes, a genuine one. But being Loki, it still has elements of restraint in it.

"Thanks." Darcy sits on the edge of the table and grabs her cup of coffee, sipping it cautiously.

"So." She starts, cupping the warm paper cup in both hands. "On the homicidal scale today, are you a 10 or more of a 2?"

"10 being very homicidal?" His face is suddenly serious.

"Yup."

"I'd say a 3. Maybe 4."

Darcy laughs. "Sounds acceptable."

She laughs uncomfortably, all of a sudden feeling the unspoken question between them. When will she leave here? She can see from the knotting of Loki's fingers that he is nervous, on edge.

His eyes suddenly widen as if he senses something and he pushes Darcy harshly to the ground, her coffee spilling on the rug beside her.

"Hey-what was that for?!"

A sudden bang masks his reply as he is thrown backwards into the cabin and through the wall. The object barely misses her and she jumps up to grab the closest available chair to defend herself with. She figures it worked last time, right?

Loki crawls back through the hole in the wall and glances at Darcy with panic before another larger, cape-clad projectile makes his way toward him. Unaware, Loki is pushed to the ground, a heavy metal object pushing his chest down, making it impossible to rise and fight.

Darcy, unaware of Loki's paralysis, blindly brings the chair down on the attacker, feeling a sense of déjà vu. She steps back in horror when she realises who the attacker is, her hand over her mouth.

"Thor!? Holy shit, I'm sorry!" Her apology is cut off as she sees another familiar figure walk through the hole where the door used to be. "Jane?"

She launches herself at her friend, pulling her into a rib cracking hug. "Jane!" She repeats, grinning wildly.

The two turn as Loki yells out in pain. Thor lifts Loki by his neck, up into the air as if he weighed absolutely nothing. The fury on his face was something Darcy had never seen before. She was so used to him cracking jokes, being a nerd with Jane. But this was something else entirely.

He slams him to the ground, where Loki crumples into a lanky mess, looking up to his brother with what she thinks is… betrayal? Thor drops Mjolnir, and raises a fist to his brother.

"You dare look for power again!" He brings the fist down on his brother. Loki, surprisingly takes the punch and doesn't move an inch, other than to turn his face back to Thor with a pained grunt.

"You dare go after my friends!" He brings down another punch, leaving Loki with blood streaming down his face, wearing the same expression of shock since the first punch.

"You dare threaten me with their demise!" He slams his fist down again, leaving Loki unconscious, his body limp and lifeless. Thor holds his collar and raises his fist again.

"Stop!" Darcy yells out, unable to help herself. "You're going to kill him!"

Jane's protective hold becomes one of restraint as she stops her rushing over to Thor. She's a tiny woman, but Darcy realises she's goddamn strong, too, as she fights to escape her. She manages to slip Jane's grasp as Thor hits his brother once more, and throws herself in the path of another. She realises she couldn't be more cliché if she tried, but still yells out in desperation.

"Stop!"

Thor's fury turns to realisation as he lets go of his brother, who falls like a rag doll to the floor. Darcy quickly cradles his head in her arms, trying to stop the bleeding. Thor looks down at the blood on his knuckles, and then to his brother with regret and shock.

"It's fine." Jane's voice is soothing as Thor begins to breathe deeply, quickly, realising what he had done. She laces her fingers through his, her calmness a façade as her heart hammers in her chest. "You didn't know. You were angry at him. It's okay."

"Guys?" Darcy calls over, her face drained as Loki begins to seize violently in her arms. "Get help!"

* * *

Looking back, Darcy didn't remember how Thor blew a hole in the ceiling and called for Heimdall to transport them to Asgard. However, she does remember the sensation of flying through the Bifrost at lightning speed, only to touch down softly in a golden sphere of a room.

She looks up from the now still and unconscious Loki to glance at the man in golden armour, standing on ceremony in the middle of the room, his eyes glowing.

That moment lasts a second before they are surrounded by guards, who lift Loki out of her grasp and away from her. She looks for something else to hold onto, and finds Jane's arm, holding her hand childishly as she knelt on the floor.

"Get him to the healers!" Thor yells at the guards, then turns to Jane beside him. "I must go with him. Jane- you know your way-we shall reconvene in my mother's quarters."

Jane swallows and nods, a slight frown on her face. She takes Darcy's face in her hands, kneeling down to her.

"Darcy," she begins, her voice soft and calm as it usually was in times like these. "C'mon, we've got to move. Everything's fine. You're safe. Don't panic."

"I didn't even know I was panicking," she stands up sharply and releases her grip on Jane's hand. Through the arching doorway, she sees the shimmering bridge under her feet, and Asgard in the distance, the golden spires glittering under the sun.

"So this is Asgard?" Darcy gapes.

Jane nods, unsure of Darcy's flitting moods. She couldn't shake the feeling something had happened to Darcy, and searches for a reason as to why Darcy had thrown herself in front of Thor's punches. She fails to come to any conclusion that makes sense, and so guides an oddly silent Darcy down the glittering rainbow bridge, toward the castle in the distance.

"How did you find us?" Darcy manages, pacing in a lavishly decorated room designated for the two of them to rest in. Frigga had rushed off to the hospital wing to see her son, but had left her handmaidens in charge of waiting on the two. Jane, bright red in the face at the thought, shooed them off. The girls couldn't have looked happier at the prospect of a day off.

Jane smiles and brings out a calculator-looking item from her bag. Darcy takes it and frowns.

"What is this?"

"We found a way to track the call. I would've been able to find you sooner, but this… this is pretty advanced stuff. It triangulates your location through the use of inter-dimensional fields that-"

"-Yeah, I get it. Science." Darcy spins the thing around in her fingers, until Jane snatches it off her for fear it might break. "Thanks for saving me, I guess."

"What's wrong, Darcy? Anyone would be happy to be saved. You look miserable."

"I'm not miserable." She lies easily, but Jane sees straight through her.

"Yes, you are. Something happened. Something you're not telling us."

"Nope."

"Yes. What is it, Darce? What happened?"

Darcy shrugs, sick of the questioning already, but knows Jane means no harm- she is blunt to the point of rudeness. Jane pushes her in the same way she pushes herself to be the amazing scientist she is today. She takes a deep breath to calm herself, knowing that the tension inside her chest was the ache of Loki's unknown fate. She is determined not to be the one mortal that embarrasses herself by rushing to the bedside of her former captor.

"Look. Maybe I'll tell you later." She offers. She wasn't too sure of what to tell Jane herself, other than there was a lot going on in Loki's batshit mind than what meets the eye. Stockholm Syndrome, Jane would probably offer as her diagnosis. Darcy wonders if having any sort of feelings for her kidnapper was acceptable in any way. She didn't even think twice about running out in front of Thor's punches to stop him, to shield Loki.

And now she is worried for his safety, she realises. Worried for the kidnapper that may or may not have promised to mail her body in tiny bits to Thor and Jane. But then again, she realises, he had healed her wrists when she'd resisted against her handcuffs. She almost keeps a mental score sheet for Loki in her mind, and resents herself for even considering it.

"What if Loki dies?" She blurts out, unable to stop herself. "What if Thor has killed him?"

"It would take a lot more than that to kill my brother," a booming voice says behind her. She recognises Thor, his face still drawn with worry, but a spring in his step tells her it's not all bad news. "He's stable. Conscious."

Darcy tries not to look too relieved at this news, but still relaxes a little.

"What now?" Jane asks curiously.

"He'll face trial. Likely, he will return to his cell. There's an open court held tomorrow."

"Can we go?" Darcy asks quickly.

Thor looks surprised at this question, but nods regardless. "If you desire."


	9. When in Asgard

**When in Asgard...**

Darcy is unsure as to whether she merits sitting at the right hand of Thor with Jane in the court room. She and Jane had been dressed for the occasion, her ball-gown insanely intricate, woven golden thread through deep blue silky material. The entire hall is packed full of Asgardians, and Darcy hates the way they're staring in their direction. She can't help but feel oddly Midgardian in this gathering of inhumanly beautiful people.

The King looks tired, she notes. His shoulders are slumped, and Darcy wonders whether this is because of the pain of re-imprisoning his son, or because he's just plain bored. Queen Frigga, on the other hand, looks positively frantic. Her hands are at her lap, constantly fidgeting. Darcy suppresses a smile. Loki's mother seems exactly how he had described her- caring, trustworthy. She can easily see why Loki loves her best. She catches her eye, an almost apologetic look on the Queen's face as she turns away.

Her eyes wander to the balconies above, which are also packed with men and women dressed in golden garb. She wonders how many people are here for the fun of it- to see the unpopular prince being imprisoned and humiliated once more. She stops herself when she realises that these people didn't know details, and the imprisoned Loki was the same Loki she had presumed him to be after New York.

Shit. The double doors finally swing open, and Loki walks in. His chains, held by two guards at his side, look heavy from the way he slumps. Darcy is surprised to see that he looks sickly, like he was plucked from his hospital bed just minutes ago. She holds her breath as his gaze passes over her and looks down at her feet.

"Shouldn't he be in the hospital?" Darcy whispers to Jane beside her. "He looks awful."

Jane shrugs and looks straight ahead. "King's orders. He looks a bit peaky I guess."

The court is lengthy, and she wishes she had a seat. It was not as professional as Darcy had thought it would be- Loki and the King mostly bickered whilst the audience watched. She had almost lost it when King Odin had brought up Loki's parentage, almost using it against him as evidence that he should be imprisoned again, but kept her head down and fists clenched.

Then the King mentions her, and the kidnapping.

"In addition to your previous crimes, I have been informed that you broke out of your cell and took a Midgardian female hostage in order to procure your latest weapon: the Sceptre."

Loki closes his eyes in exasperation as Darcy cringes. The audience now knew why the strange Midgardian was stood by Thor and Jane's side, and she felt the entire crowd's gaze fix on her.

"Add it to my list of crimes, father." He is sarcastic, and Darcy has never wanted to slap him more.

"You have no defence against this allegation?"

"No."

"I do." Darcy isn't sure what possesses her to speak up, but she does anyway, a sense of nausea growing inside of her as she takes deep breath.

"Darcy-" Jane begins.

"Hey." Darcy steps forward and cringes. 'Hey?' Really Darcy? She doesn't need to look Jane's way to see the incredulous looks she's shooting her.

"I'm the one he kidnapped, if you guys were wondering. And I…" She trails off, wondering where she was even going with this. She is determined that her defence wasn't to excuse his previous actions- only the kidnapping- but she realises it's too late. By the time she opens her mouth, she realises she's excusing him completely, and hates herself for it.

"I… wanted to defend him… Those few days let me see that this guy isn't such a bad person. Sure, he's done terrible things, and made some god-awful choices, but I'm just testifying on his personality. He's not a bad person. He's stubborn, rude and sometimes downright irritating," that earns her a scowl from Loki, "but he's also considerate, and surprisingly caring when it comes to it."

Odin looks a little more excitable after an unexpected guest takes the stage, and nods for her to continue. Loki, on the other hand, looks mortified, as if Darcy had taken out his embarrassing baby photos for everyone to see.

"I mean, I was his hostage, and an annoying one at that. He should've just left me tied up. But instead he treated me well, healing my injuries, playing stupid board-" At the look Loki gives her, she stops. "Never mind. Just… think about how he can change. I think he's learnt his lesson… I just want that on record. And the fact I'm testifying in his defence means something… right?"

"I won't be invading any major Midgardian cities anytime soon, if that is what you mean." He says sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"There you go," she says, and throws her hand up, her bracelet flying off into the crowd. "Shit."

"Thank you, Lady Darcy." King Odin says in a way she realises he's not thanking her genuinely at all. "It is… lucky you were rescued by Thor, otherwise you would not be here to contest the angelic 'goodness' of your kidnapper."

Darcy screws her face up in disgust. "He wouldn't have killed me!"

She meets Loki's eyes, and sees he's been staring at her intensely since she had defended him. She can't decide whether his look is surprise, confusion, admiration or all of those mixed into one.

"I'm sure he mentioned that to you." The King looks down at her condescendingly. "Tell us, Loki, what they call you here?"

Loki raises his eyebrows. "Why, father, there are many insults thrown my way. I suppose you are referring to my silvertongue, my petulance and wicked way of lying?" He scoffs. "I assure you, when I took Darcy Lewis as my hostage, I fully intended to dispose of her as my final act. That did not change."

His look turns dark as a gasp runs through the court.

Darcy shakes her head and laughs darkly when she realises what he's doing. "Fine." She shrugs in disbelief. "Fine. You save face whilst you're locked up, then. At least you'll have your reputation to keep you company. I don't care."

Darcy stalks off without a single look back and through the side exit into the royal chamber. She's disappointed, sure, but part of her wants to go back out there and shake some sense into him.

* * *

"Darce." She can hear Jane cautiously approaching her as she sits on the windowsill, looking out into Asgard.

"I made an ass of myself, didn't I?"

Jane laughs. "A little."

"I am so stupid." Darcy puts her head in her heads, wanting to melt right there, right then. "I can't believe I defended him."

Jane shakes her head. "You want to tell me what happened?"

Darcy looks up at her soft expression and contemplates telling her everything. Instead she blurts out an almost rehearsed opening. She hadn't even realised how much thought she'd put into it in the time between rescue and now.

"I thought it was Stockholm Syndrome. You know, the whole, empathy for your kidnapper thing?"

Jane nods. "But…?"

"But it didn't feel like it. After a while, it felt as if I was… on holiday with a friend or something. Or I took a mentally-unstable dude into the middle of the woods to council him. Either one, really."

"You said he wouldn't kill you."

"He tried. Then for some reason, he backed off and said he couldn't." She stops and thinks. "He said we were… friends."

"Darcy, you have to understand that he's-"

"A bastard? I know." Darcy shuffles over so that Jane can sit beside her on the sill. "But it's not just me seeing the best in people. He was nice to me. He'll probably kill me for saying this, but we played board games, and the night before you guys came, we had Chinese and film night. I could've left, but I didn't…"

"He let you go?"

Darcy nods, biting her lip. "And then Thor beats the shit out of him and he's brought straight to sentencing. If I had left that night…"

"I see what you mean." Jane admits. "As much as I hate to mention it, Thor and I agreed you guys had that whole arguing married couple thing down when we called."

"What?" Darcy screws her face up in disgust.

Jane puts her hands up in surrender. "You were wearing his clothes, and then you argued like an old married couple. It was weird to watch, okay?"

"Weird? Of course it was! It was strategy, okay? Maybe instead of being a typical hostage, I may have gone out of my way to piss him off. And it paid off. He let me live."

"Hm." Jane looks at her as if she doesn't believe her, and Darcy scowls.

"Look, Loki has enemies too. And right now I think he's trying to get himself imprisoned because he's scared." Darcy sighs heavily and hops off the table. "Some weird things came after him at the cabin. They said they worked for some space dude, and they were the ones who needed the sceptre. So all that," she gestures to the door back to the court, "is bullshit."

"Weird things?" Jane is listening intently, and Darcy knows she can't wait to run back to Thor for another joint quest to free Loki this time.

"He called them the ont. They were fucking creepy. Took a lump out of my arm, see?" Darcy pulls her golden bangle aside so Jane can see the full scar that ran down her forearm. "That's when Loki started being so nice to me. There's obviously nothing that screams 'bonding time' than burying bodies in the middle of the woods."

"You did what?" Jane jumps up and is about to rip into Darcy for withholding information when Thor pokes his head around the door cautiously.

"Jane. Darcy." His voice is uncertain, but Darcy sees Jane nod slightly, and this uncertainty fades instantly. It confuses the hell out of Darcy that a small scientist has such power over a bulky God.

"Is it over?" Darcy asks, jumping off the sill.

Thor nods solemnly. "My brother wishes to speak with you before he begins his indefinite imprisonment."

"Indefinite?" Darcy sighs. "Of course. You guys live forever."

"I plan to shorten the average Asgardian life expectancy by a good hundred years. But of course, Odin reminds me often that I am not one of them," Loki's voice interrupts them, coming from the entrance to the chamber. His footsteps are followed by the clanking of his chain restraints, and the footsteps of two guards to either side of him.

"You wanted to talk after that?" Darcy runs to him, wanting to slap the shit out of him.

"We should leave…" Jane's hand finds Thor's and guides him out of the chamber. Darcy doesn't contest, still staring angrily at Loki.

"I didn't want to fight with you, Darcy." His voice is low and urgent. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what? Defending you? You acted like I was, I dunno, a piece of dirt on your shoe when I stood up there and told them!" She realised Jane and Thor could probably hear them on the outside of the door, but shouted nonetheless. "I thought you wanted to stay out of jail!"

Loki tips his head to the side. "Asgardian cells are the most secure place for me right now."

Darcy is about to go off on one again when she realises what he's hinting. Asgardian cells would give him more time against Thanos. He could hardly spell that out in front of the guards who would likely run to Odin at any sign of new information.

"So that's what you want, then?" Her voice is calm now, measured.

"Hardly. Freedom would be a better alternative, but that was unlikely to happen."

"How do you know?"

Loki closes his eyes and shakes his head softly before glancing at Darcy's confusion. "Darcy," he begins. "My father, given an array of evidence that would likely prove my innocence would find a way to see my villainous ways. I've been through this before, and hope would crush me if I dared to possess it."

"So there's no way-"

"No." He says shortly.

"If there's a chance-"

"There won't be-"

Darcy sighs heavily. "Let me fucking finish, okay?" She clears her throat. "If there's a chance you get out early, I guess I'll have takeaway and films at the ready if I'm not dead by that point."

Loki wears a hint of a smile as the guards beside him try to act as if they're not listening.

"I believe you have yourself a deal, there, Darcy Lewis."

Darcy shakes her head. "I fucking hate you, you know."

Loki frowns, confused and speechless by her complete change of attitude. "What? Why?" He finally manages, and catches on as Darcy smiles wryly.

"Because I really want to think you deserve this… but I can't help but think I'll miss you."

She hears the clank of chains before she realises Loki has made a beeline toward her. The guards look panicked, but stop short when Darcy takes the last few steps to him, throwing herself into his embrace, kissing him with such ferocity it almost knocks Loki back. He wants to pull her closer, to feel his fingers in her hair or on her soft cheek, but stops when the chains clank, and cannot move any further. She hears his attempts, and she finds his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

"And there you have something to remember me by." He means to say with humour, but, as he softly rests his forehead on Darcy's, it sounds oddly sentimental in his husky voice. He kisses her again, softly and quickly, almost blown away by the strange feeling of euphoria and release he hadn't felt for centuries.

"You could say that…" Darcy smiles against his lips.

"Step back." One of Loki's guards command. But Loki can't bring himself to say goodbye to the strange mortal he's managed to save from himself. Instead, Darcy pulls him down and kisses him again until the guards grow impatient and pull Loki off her like a dog on a leash.

"Times up." One of them says without malice, and guides Loki toward the door.

"I guess this is goodbye." Loki sees Darcy bite her lip, looking oddly forlorn in the small room, her hands knotted together tightly. He nods slowly.

"Until we meet again." He smiles. As the door slams behind him, Darcy blinks back tears.

"Goddamn it."


	10. Two Years Later

**Two Years Later**

Darcy has danced with every single guest, it seems. Her feet hurt, her muscles ache, and most of all, she's not even a little bit drunk. Unlike some people.

She sees Jane at the high table, a beautiful bride in glistening white, point something out to her new husband excitedly, spilling red wine over what was a beautiful silk tablecloth. Darcy laughs along with Jane, tables away. Their eyes meet, and there's a silent exchange in there- a summary of their past few years, a gratefulness of good friendship and new discovery.

She's happy for Jane, she truly is. But she can't help glancing around, ready to see the dark haired prince she'd been pining after for over two years. It had been a record for Darcy- two years waiting for a man. Now she knew how Jane had felt, waiting for Thor all those years. She didn't understand how annoying it was. Not painful, she realises, but annoying.

So Darcy explained to Jane that this wedding was a marker of new beginnings, for both of them. Jane is starting a life with the hunky demi-God Thor, and Darcy is going to stop worrying about said demi-God's brother who may or may not have threatened to kill her two years ago.

"Sif." Darcy nods her head at the dark haired woman who had just sat down next to her. "It's been a while."

"Hm, if only you visited as often as Lady Jane used to." Her face is serious, but hints a smile. Darcy finds herself grinning back as she sips wine from her goblet. Sif had greeted her and accompanied her whenever Darcy had decided to travel alongside Jane to Asgard in the past two years, and the two of them had become good friends.

"Maybe I'll just move here." Darcy shrugs. "My dad was always telling me to get out of the state whilst I still could."

Sif laughs. "If only your father knew of your travels."

"If only." Her smile fades, remembering her late father's wise words.

"She seems happy." Sif admires the couple on the high table. "I must admit, I am a tad jealous of their bliss."

"You're not the only one." Darcy rolls her eyes.

"No luck here, then? I must admit, all men are scoundrels here, even the most well-meaning of them."

Darcy shakes her head. "They're all weirdly closed off. I think I have a reputation or something. No one seems to even want to talk to me. They just dance with me and leave."

"You don't have a bad reputation. I just think people are scared of those they don't know."

"It's probably one of those weird racist things. Gotta stay away from those disgusting mortal Midgardian folk."

"They're at a wedding for Jane and Thor, Darcy. I highly doubt they are offended by your birth place."

Darcy shrugs. "True." As she reaches for her goblet of wine, she sees a flash of green and black out of the corner of her eye. She spins around wildly, but sees nothing but columns of arching marble and strangers. As her heart rate slows, she excuses herself quickly to Sif, who wanders off to talk with the other warriors.

Walking through the throng, she manages not to spill a drop of wine. Stopping at a table, she downs the remainder and places the goblet on the side, her eyes still scanning. Some try to stop her wandering by striking conversation, but almost possessed, she wanders past them silently. She's done this before...her imagination runs wild frequently, and she sees things she _wants_ to see, as opposed to those in reality. She half wonders how she looks to others.

"Where are you…" She mutters to herself, wondering if she was truly going insane.

Her breath catches when their eyes meet from across the ballroom. Black hair, longer than she remembers, frames the pale face she remembers rather well. He wears his armour, leather and gold over woven deep green material. She forgets to breathe, wondering if this was her imagination or reality.

Her feet find their way to him until they meet in the middle of the ballroom. Her hands rest on his chest, slowly tracing the metal on his armour, almost hypnotised. She looks up at his puzzled face.

"Are you real?" She asks shakily, aware that people's heads were turning, suddenly aware of the extra guest.

"Yes. Are you?"

Darcy nods slowly and twines her arms around the back of his neck, pulling him down to kiss him. She doesn't care how many people have turned to watch. All she cares about is him right now, the taste of him on her lips, the feel of his hair under her fingertips. He throws his arms around her, his hands pulling her closer, caressing her face as he looks long and hard at her face in awe.

"I've missed you." He says between kisses, smiling against her lips.

"Me too." She grins back.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you've enjoyed it!

:)


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